Fall 2008

Stanford Medicine Newsletter is published by the communications group at Stanford University Medical Center. To subscribe to the print version, send your name and address to: communitynews-owner@lists.stanford.edu.

Walking through Stanford Hospital & Clinics’ Emergency Department can be a traumatic experience. Exam rooms are crammed with patient beds and equipment. Hallways are narrowed with more beds, gurneys and equipment. Somehow the medical staff manages to maneuver through the space that remains. The hospital’s emergency room is vintage 1976. It was designed for 30 patient beds—enough to care for 70 people daily. Today between 125 and 150 people arrive in need of medical treatment each day. Read Story »

Did you know?

Sound Bites

Microbiologist David Relman, MD, on a new study that found that many women harbor bacteria or fungi in amniotic fluid, leading to a greater number of premature births.

New York Times, Aug. 26

“That’s one of the scary things. We’re seeing problems in childhood that we used to not see until adulthood, including type 2 diabetes.”

Thomas Robinson, MD, MPH, the Irving Schulman, MD, Endowed Professor in Child Health and director of the Center for Healthy Weight at Packard Children’s, on the obesity epidemic in children.

ABC News, May 27

“Just because you have someone who’s older doesn’t mean you shouldn’t think about HIV and HIV screening.”

Doug Owens, MD, professor of medicine and of health research and policy, on the cost-effectiveness of HIV screening for older adults.

Washington Post, June 18

“We have better treatments for crack cocaine addiction than we do for obesity, but there has been a real revolution with bariatric surgery.”

John Morton, MD, associate professor of surgery, who also reported that probiotics—the “good” bacteria found in yogurt and supplements—can help adult gastric-bypass surgery patients lose more weight.

Scientific American, May 22

“I want to make sure we’re not marketing for industry or being influenced by their marketing.”

Philip Pizzo, MD, dean of the School of Medicine, on a new school policy that severely restricts industry funding of continuing medical education programs for practicing physicians.

New York Times, Aug. 25

“I quite frankly can’t blame patients of means for wanting to have a doctor who can give them a little bit more time, who return their phone calls maybe within hours rather than days or weeks.”

Clarence Braddock, MD, associate professor of medicine and member of the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics, on concierge medicine, a practice where physicians provide enhanced care for patients who pay an annual fee.

KGO-TV, May 27

“This is a very powerful first demonstration of direct brain control of a real prosthetic arm. He’s adopted that arm. He’s able to see that arm but not be bothered by the fact that it’s not truly his and still act upon the world with it.”

Krishna Shenoy, MD, associate professor of electrical engineering with the Stanford Neuroscience Institute, on primates who learned to feed themselves with a robotic arm using signals from their brains.

Michael Marmor, MD, wanted to know what it was like to see through the eyes of an artist—literally. After writing two books on artists and eye disease, the Stanford ophthalmologist decided to go one step further and create images that would show how these artists actually saw their world and their canvases. Read Story »

Starting or returning to school is a major adjustment that can create plenty of stress for kids and parents. That’s why the pediatric and adolescent health experts at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital believe it is important to stay on top of a child’s health as well as his or her studies. Here are some back-to-school health tips from Packard Children’s specialists. Read Story »

As Stanford prepares to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of the historic move by the School of Medicine and hospital from San Francisco to Palo Alto in 1959, another milestone move is just months away. In February 2009, the Stanford Medicine Outpatient Center will open in Redwood City, marking the start of a new era in ambulatory care. Read Story »

If you’re not a young woman or a mother of one, you may think the recent news and controversy about HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccination doesn’t apply to you. But as HPV’s role in a wide variety of conditions other than cervical cancer is being discovered, the vaccine may soon be of interest to you whether you’re female or male, young or old. Read Story »

Many years ago, our 3-month-old son Brian was admitted to the former children’s hospital at Stanford because there was a chance he had a brain tumor. Despite the difficult circumstances, we received the best care anybody could want. It turned out that Brian did not have a tumor. He is now a healthy and proud father of three girls. Read Story »